Follow us on Social Media

Kansas Judge Temporarily Suspends Anti-BDS Law

A US federal judge has temporarily suspended a Kansas state law which penalizes anyone who advocates or engages in the boycott of Israel, becoming the first to do so.

Federal Judge Daniel Crabtree issued a temporary injunction on Tuesday in response to a lawsuit which was filed in October by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of Esther Koontz, a Wichita public school teacher.

A Kansas State legislation passed in June 2017 – anti-BDS law – forces all state contractors to sign a legal document declaring that they do not support or practice the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

In solidarity with Palestinians, Koontz had decided last year, alongside her fellow members of the Mennonite Church USA, to boycott all Israeli products and the Israeli companies operating in the occupied West Bank.

Koontz, who was fired for refusing to sign the anti-BDS document, argued in the lawsuit that the law violated her First Amendment rights.

Judge Crabtree’s ruling was that “The Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment protects the right to participate in a boycott like the one punished by the Kansas law.”

Micah Kubic, director of the ACLU of Kansas, welcomed the ruling, calling it a “notable victory for the First Amendment.”

“The government has no right telling people what they can and can’t support, and this preliminary injunction will protect other Kansans from enduring the First Amendment violation that Ms. Koontz has endured,” Kubic said.

In a statement, ACLU attorney Brian Hauss said: “The court has rightly recognized the serious First Amendment harms being inflicted by this misguided law, which imposes an unconstitutional ideological litmus test.”

“This ruling should serve as a warning to government officials around the country that the First Amendment prohibits the government from suppressing participation in political boycotts,” Hauss added.

Since the appearance of the bill, legal and civil rights experts have repeatedly maintained that the right to boycott is protected under the First Amendment.

“There’s no question that the First Amendment protects the right to participate in a political boycott,” Vera Eidelman, from the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project told Mondoweiss.

“This Kansas decision is very correctly in keeping with that case,” Eidelman said, arguing that Judge Crabtree’s ruling, “does a great job of explaining why our client, Esther Koontz’s boycott is protected in the same way that the boycott in Claiborne was protected” – refers to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 1982 landmark civil rights suit NAACP v Claiborne.

“[Judge Crabtree] picked up on fact that the Kansas legislature passed the law to silence one voice, specifically those challenging Israel,” Eidelman told Mondoweiss.

“He really honed in correctly on the legislative history that shows the goal of the law was to undermine the message of those participating in a boycott of Israel,” Eidelman added. “And that that is not allowed under the First Amendment.”

The Executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Yousef Munayyer, also took to Twitter, saying, “the 1st Amendment triumphed today.”

There are laws like this that have passed in states across the country and @SenatorCardin is still pushing one in the senate. Thankfully, the 1st Amendment triumphed today! https://t.co/4L4XHJFIeS

BDS movement started in 2005, aims to put Israel under pressure to end its illegal and systematic occupation of the Palestinian territories and stop harassing and acknowledging the rights of Palestinian citizens and refugees.

Last October, at the time when the anti-BDS law was first introduced, Dima Khalidi, Palestine Legal Director, had said: “It will send a clear message to those Israel advocacy groups and legislators who have shown a willingness to trample on constitutional rights in order to shield Israel from criticism and accountability.”

“In the Trump era especially, we must vigilantly safeguard our right to dissent, including the First Amendment right to support boycotts for Palestinian rights. Elected officials should be in the business of safeguarding our constitutional rights, not legislating them away,” he added.

The Jewish and Israeli lobby is quite powerful in the United States Congress. A US Senate bill called the Israel Anti-Boycott Act has been proposed and will be put to vote. The bill would prohibit US citizens from advocating “restrictive trade practices or boycotts fostered or imposed by any international governmental organization against Israel”.